Jinting Han people

This was the first autumn of the first year of the Yongkang era. Beneath the clear sky and white clouds, the mountains west of the Hutuo River undulated along the river's course, their valleys gentle, the rivers meandering around the peaks. Riding through this landscape, the sky above was an endless expanse of azure, and the white clouds were almost visible on the river's surface. The Jingxing Valley was completely still, the air crisp and dry, making even the riders feel refreshed and invigorated.

Sima Yi and his group of more than ten people rode along the valley slopes in this manner. The weather was unexpectedly fine, and the people took off their hats, wearing only round-necked, narrow-sleeved hunting outfits. Most of them carried only short knives at their waists, with bow cases and quivers of arrows tucked into their horses' backs, dressed in full hunting attire. But even just riding slowly through such autumn scenery, they felt quite content.

The group rode through the valley and eventually reached the foot of a mountain called Tiangua Mountain. From the top, they could see the vast sky and the boundless wilderness. But looking down, they saw that the valley surrounded by mountains was not a naturally formed forest, but rather a series of fortified camps.

Flags fluttered among the camps, and thousands of soldiers could be seen moving about like ants. Some practiced martial arts in formation, others honed their marksmanship at the shooting range, some rode horses along the road, and others held military discussions... Although there was a constant flow of people in the camp, it was not noisy or bustling, but rather orderly. Apart from the officers who were issuing military orders, no one shouted loudly, which created a solemn atmosphere both inside and outside the camp.

Sima Yi had a thick cowhide covering his right shoulder, upon which stood a falcon he had bought in Liaodong. He teased the bluish-white falcon while gazing downwards. After a moment, he asked Liu You beside him, "Chengbo, what do you think of Lord Liu's training of troops?"

Among Sima Yi's entourage, aside from his personal guards, there was only one person who served as his advisor: Liu You, a scholar from Changshan. Unlike other officials from Changshan, such as Shangguan Si and Wang Ju, who were recruited by Sima Yi from within Changshan itself, Liu You had been recruited since the time of the King of Changsha and was also a companion scholar personally chosen by Emperor Wu of Jin for Sima Yi in his early years.

The reason why Liu You was chosen by Sima Yan was also related to his family background. Liu You's grandfather was Liu Yi, the former Commandant of the Capital Region, Grand Justice of Qingzhou, and Grand Master of the Three Departments; his father was Liu Tun, the former Imperial Censor and current Prefect of Taiyuan. Although their official positions were not high, they were both leading figures who advocated abolishing the Nine-Rank System, and therefore had great prestige among people from humble backgrounds.

Therefore, among the officials in the royal court, Sima Yi valued Liu You the most, and Liu You also had the deepest relationship with Sima Yi.

Liu You cupped his hands and replied, "Your Highness, I am not very knowledgeable in military affairs. However, it has only been two months since Lord Liu offered his strategy. These new recruits went from not knowing how to form ranks to being disciplined and methodical, and the results are quite obvious."

Sima Yi nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right. He is indeed a famous general who conquered the west. When he gave me his advice before, I didn't expect that there could be so many intricacies to training troops."

It turned out that they had come specifically to see the results of Liu Xian's military training.

After Lu Zhi left, Liu Xian considered the matter for several more days and finally presented Sima Yi with three strategies for training troops.

Liu Xian had previously stated to Sima Yi that the only way to overthrow Sun Xiu was through military campaigns. However, since Emperor Wu of Jin conquered Wu, he believed the chaos of war had ended. To reduce expenditures and restore the people's livelihood, he specifically ordered all commanderies and kingdoms to cease hostilities. Except for recruited troops in border regions and important towns, the commandery and kingdom armies that had been maintained since the Han Dynasty were abolished. But abolishing them was easy; now that it was time to wage war again, they had to start all over again.

Before Liu Xian arrived, the entire Changshan Kingdom had a population of over 200,000. However, the troops under Sima Yi's jurisdiction numbered only a little over 1,000. Averaging this across the eight counties of Changshan, each county had only a little over 100 men, and some counties had even fewer than 100. To expect a mere 1,000 men to fight against the 100,000 imperial guards of Luoyang was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Therefore, Liu Xian formulated three targeted military training strategies based on the situation in Changshan State.

The first option, of course, is to recruit soldiers.

At the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Yan also stipulated that each vassal king could establish a private army within his own fiefdom. However, the rules varied depending on the closeness of the relationship: a fiefdom with 5,000 households was a small state and could only have one army of 1,500 men; a fiefdom with 10,000 households was a medium-sized state and could have two armies of 3,000 men; and a fiefdom with 20,000 households was a large state and could have three armies of 5,000 men.

Although a ceasefire order was subsequently issued, it was not mandatory for the feudal lords. They only responded because maintaining an army was indeed costly.

Now that we need to train troops, we can uphold the late emperor's decree and recruit soldiers throughout the country. Officially, we'll only recruit five thousand men, but Liu Xian suggests changing the training location to the western mountains and forests, making it difficult for others to detect. If we recruit another three or four thousand, who would notice?

But that was the limit of the number of soldiers recruited; if they wanted to go any further, they would have to keep it a secret.

Therefore, Liu Xian's second strategy was to restore civilian settlements.

The Tuntian system was a military system established by Cao Cao, the Emperor Wu of Wei, to solve the problem of food shortages. A large number of landless refugees were organized into Tuntian households. They cultivated the land on weekdays and practiced martial arts and military skills during the off-season. In case of a crisis where there was a shortage of troops, the Tuntian households could be called to the battlefield and could be used even if they were not fully capable.

Liu Xian's method was not to truly restore the practice of military farming among the people. He merely used military farming as a pretext to have county soldiers gather able-bodied men and households during the off-season for ten days of training each month. In this way, although it could not train a highly skilled and battle-hardened army, it could, after a period of time, create a large army with basic military knowledge.

Liu Xian calculated that Changshan could recruit about 30,000 militiamen a year later.

The third strategy was to hire Hu Bing.

This was a conclusion reached by Li Sheng and Liu Xian, who believed that Changshan was located at the border of Bingzhou and Youzhou. Bingzhou to the west was mostly inhabited by Xiongnu people, while Youzhou to the north was mostly inhabited by Xianbei people. These nomadic peoples lived in remote and impoverished areas and were known for their fierce and warlike nature.

We can now secretly contact these Hu people and hire them with money and provisions. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, it has become a tradition for Hu people to respond to Han military expeditions. It is quite possible to raise ten or twenty thousand men using this method. The only problem is that Hu soldiers are difficult to control, so we should conduct careful investigations before using them.

With these three strategies, Liu Xian estimated that he could raise 50,000 troops in Changshan within a year. Although their quality would vary, it was already an incredible speed.

Sima Yi readily agreed and entrusted the entire task to Liu Xian. After all, although Liu Xian was fond of martial arts, he usually only led a small number of cavalry to suppress bandits and had no experience in such large-scale military expansion. However, this resulted in exorbitant expenditures of the treasury, inevitably causing some discontent within the country. But Sima Yi suppressed these complaints, saying to his advisors:
"The vassal states and the imperial court are like branches and roots. If the foundation of the state is unstable, how can we expect the branches and leaves to remain safe and sound? Changshan has been at peace for decades, and the granaries are overflowing with grain. This is not only due to my efforts, but also to the peace and stability of the imperial court! The current expenses of the granaries can even support an army of 50,000 for two or three years. For the future peace of the world, what is there to regret?"

That's how the scene before us came about. Sima Yi then asked Liu You, "Chengbo, how many soldiers have we recruited so far?"

Liu You replied, "Our original plan was to train six armies with 9,000 men. Four armies have already joined the training, and the remaining two armies are still recruiting. We should be able to recruit them all this month."

Sima Yi was satisfied with the speed of the operation. He then asked, "How is things going in Taiyuan, Lord Ling? Have you persuaded the King of Taiyuan to join?"

Liu You smiled smugly and said, "The Prince of Taiyuan is young, and the affairs of the state are naturally in the hands of my father. After I went to Jinyang, my father learned that you intended to serve the king, and immediately persuaded the Prince of Taiyuan. He also promised that he would persuade the counties of Bingzhou to support Your Highness as well. As long as Your Highness raises an army, my father can at least pull out 30,000 troops from Bingzhou to march south with Your Highness!"

It turned out that Sima Yi not only had secret contact with Sima Ying, but he was also on good terms with Liu Tun, the Prefect of Taiyuan. A few days ago, Liu You secretly went to Jinyang to contact Liu Tun and had already obtained the support of Sima Hong, the Prince of Taiyuan. Sima Yi then asked, "Has Yang Man sent any letters recently? Have there been any changes in the capital?"

Yang Man was another companion chosen by Sima Yan for Sima Yi, and was a great-grandson of the famous general Yang Hu. Sima Yi claimed to be cut off from news from Luoyang, but in reality, he kept abreast of the latest developments in the capital region through Yang Man.
Liu You nodded and said, "I remember Yang Zuyan last wrote to me last month, saying that things were tense in the capital recently, but there was no major news. However, we cannot ignore the matter he mentioned last time..."

"what's up?"

"Your Highness, you should remember that Sun Qi has a marriage alliance with the Yang family, right? Recently, Sun Xiu has been valuing Sun Qi highly and plans to make Sun Qi's granddaughter, who is also Zu Yan's cousin and Yang Xuanzhi's eldest daughter, Xianrong, the new empress."

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi couldn't help but chuckle and said, "You mean this? This is a good thing! The Yang family will be related to the emperor again! It will be much easier for Yang Zuyan to gather information then."

He knew what Liu You was worried about, and immediately retorted, "Don't think that Yang Man will switch sides to Sun Xiu. We've been friends for so many years, we even made it through the first year of Yuan Kang. Are we going to be worse off now? Trust those you employ, and don't employ those you don't trust!"

This was not enough to convince Liu You, but he couldn't argue further, so he could only bow and remain silent as a response.

Sima Yi then sighed, "It's just a pity for Xianrong. I'm afraid her marriage to my second brother is not a good one. I still remember her. When I left the capital, she was only six years old, wasn't she? How could such a delicate little girl stand my second brother? When the King of Zhao usurps the throne, her fate will be full of hardships!"

Although people are used to seeing women's difficult fates, the thought of pairing a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl with a fat, mentally challenged emperor over forty years old as husband and wife still feels cruel.

But Sima Yi was not one to wallow in cruelty. He was adept at convincing himself and finding a positive side to cruelty, thus saying, "That's precisely why we must avoid more setbacks. Emperor Wu left this empire not so that people could squander it!"

"Come, Uncle Cheng, let's go down and take a look. Just looking from the mountain will only give us a general idea. But to see how well the troops have been trained, we need to experience it firsthand!"

"The fate of the world rests on these people!"

Having said that, Sima Yi finally revealed his carefree and unrestrained side. He flicked the reins, and the blue falcon on his shoulder let out a soft cry before taking flight. His yellow steed galloped like lightning, covering dozens of paces in an instant. His entourage was startled and hurriedly spurred their horses to give chase, but it was too late. They could only watch as the Prince of Changshan galloped freely across the hillside. The blue falcon, with its wings spread, circled above his head like a blue cloud, displaying an indescribable air of heroic strength.

He galloped across the hillside, quickly attracting the attention of the soldiers in the valley. Some soldiers gathered noisily, instinctively surrounding the camp gate before recognizing him, to prevent any unexpected incidents.

Upon seeing this, Sima Yi did not slow down but instead allowed his horse to gallop at full speed. They raced like lightning until they reached the camp gate, at which point he finally reined in his horse. Once reined in, the horse stopped, only pawing the ground a few times, as if nailed to the ground.

This surprised many soldiers: what a fine horse! Generally speaking, pulling back a horse requires a considerable buffer distance to allow the excited warhorse to calm down, but this one did not require any such buffer. This shows that the horse was extraordinary and the rider's horsemanship was exceptional.

Once the blue falcon landed and flew back onto Sima Yi's shoulder, he smiled leisurely at the soldiers and said, "I am the King of Changshan. I am going to see Lord Liu. Please make way."

Unexpectedly, the soldiers did not let them pass. The leader said, "Please wait a moment. We will go and inform the prefect first. We can open the gate after he arrives."

Sima Yi's heart skipped a beat, but he feigned anger and said, "Oh? What are you, daring to block my way?"

Having said that, he made a move to strike him with his whip. The surrounding soldiers, seeing his imposing presence, were momentarily intimidated and unsure of what to do.

Unexpectedly, the man replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Military orders are like mountains; without them, orders cannot be obeyed and troops cannot fight on the battlefield. If you are truly His Highness the Prince of Changshan, you should be even more considerate of everyone."

As they were locked in a tense standoff, Liu Xian and Shangguan Yi arrived at the camp gate. Upon seeing Sima Yi, Liu Xian hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Highness has come from afar; why didn't you inform me beforehand?"

Sima Yi's expression immediately changed from anger to joy. He dismounted and smiled at Liu Xian, saying, "If I don't come and see for myself, how will I know that the Prefect is skilled in training troops?"

He first praised Liu Xian, saying, "Your Excellency's military training has the style of Xi Liu!"

Then, holding a riding crop, he walked up to the officer who was blocking his way, tapped him twice on the shoulder with the end of the crop, and asked, "What's your name? Was your neck Dong Xuan's forte back in the day?"

The officer bowed and replied, "I am Linghu Sheng from Jingxing, and I am willing to die for Your Highness."

Sima Yi laughed twice, put his hands behind his back, and said with a smile, "There's no need to die for someone. The purpose of life is not to die for one's principles, but to achieve great things and make a name for oneself. Isn't that right?"

He noticed that Linghu Sheng's eyes kept glancing at his mount, and he knew that Linghu Sheng must like it. So he said, "You were able to uphold military orders today, and I imagine you will fight to the death on the battlefield tomorrow. I'll give you this yellow horse."

Linghu Sheng was startled and quickly waved his hand, saying, "How dare I accept such a generous gift when I have not rendered any service? I dare not refuse your kindness."

"A husband's word is his bond; how can he go back on his word? If you feel unworthy, then fight more enemies for me from now on!"

Having said that, Sima Yi walked past Linghu Sheng and went straight to Liu Xian, saying as they walked, "Lord, how about you show me around?"

Liu Xian readily agreed, and the group immediately began a aimless patrol of the military camp. (End of Chapter)